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*Who Are You Trusting In?*
!! “Trust - But Don’t Lean”
* *
New Hope Missionary Baptist Church
Women’s Day
July 25, 2004
! Proverbs 3:5-10
!
Focal Point: Vv. 5,6
The story has been told by Albert Mygatt that a Canadian pastor friend of his, in a period of great despondency, received the help he needed from reading the following delightful, true incident.
The local parks commission had been ordered to remove the trees from a certain street that was to be widened.
As they were about to begin, the foreman and his men noticed a robin’s nest in one of the trees and the mother robin sitting on the nest.
The foreman ordered the men to leave the tree until later.
Returning, they found the nest occupied by little wide-mouthed robins.
Again they left the tree.
When they returned at a later date they found the nest empty.
The family had grown and flown away.
But something at the bottom of the nest caught the eye of one of the workmen—a soiled, little white card.
When he had separated it from the mud and sticks, he found that it was a small Sunday school card and on it the words, “We trust in the Lord our God”
What is the major theme of the Book of Proverbs?
One word answers the question: /wisdom./
Wisdom was an important commodity in the ancient Near East; every ruler had his council of “wise men” whom he consulted when making important decisions.
Joseph was considered a wise man in Egypt and Daniel and his friends were honored for their wisdom while serving in Babylon.
God wants His children today to “walk circumspectly [carefully], not as fools but as wise” (Eph.
5:15,).
Understanding the Book of Proverbs can help us do that.
It isn’t enough simply to be educated and have knowledge, as important as education is.
We also need wisdom, which is the ability to use knowledge.
*Wise* men and women have the competence to grasp the meaning of a situation and understand what to do and how to do it in the right way at the right time.
The familiar passage in Matt.
6:26 reminds us to “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not worth more than they?”
Our goal today is to impart knowledge about a wisdom that will aid you in deciding where to place your trust, in every area of your life.
Biblical wisdom begins with a right relationship with the Lord.
The wise person believes that there is a God, that He is the Creator and Ruler of all things, and that He has put within His creation a divine order that, if obeyed, leads ultimately to success.
Wise people also assert that there is a moral law operating in this world, a principle of divine justice which makes sure that eventually the wicked are judged and the righteous are rewarded.
Biblical wisdom has little if any relationship to a person’s IQ or education, because it is a matter of moral and spiritual understanding.
It has to do with character and values; it means looking at the world through the grid of God’s truth.
One of the first things that wisdom teaches us is that it is wise to decide in advance in whom and where you will place your trust.
You see, if you don’t decide, then life, situations, people, things will decide for you.
You see, trust is a both a verb and an adverb in usage.
As a verb, it is a learned response, an act of doing.
It requires a deliberate action.
It is an act of doing.
As an adverb it is used with an object, such as to say I trust you, or I trust the chair to hold me.
So, either way, you will trust something or someone.
Some have said in an imprudent manner, “I trust no one but myself.”
Well, that is just untrue.
Everybody has to trust something or someone for something outside of self or else you would be god.
This is the aspect of trust that we will ponder today in this Biblical wisdom.
The wisdom that considers all things through the aspect of God’s input.
The book of Proverbs is a collection of similes or parables from wise men concerning the way to conduct one’s life both in what is right and what is prudent.
The first few chapters of the Proverbs are instructions in wisdom, and chapter 3 lets us in on some of the rewards of wisdom.
As with any rewards, the plunder, the loot, the booty, the rewards of wisdom come only after a *successful* victory.
When you get into the habit of placing your trust in the right object, then the rewards of wisdom will flow.
The trust that is being encroached upon in the text today leads the trusting *one* down a path.
Using your God-given wisdom to apply your trust rightly will afford certain promises for the path one must travel.
In our text today we find *three types of trust: *
*1.
**Blind trust*
*2.
**Objective trust, and*
*3.
**Total trust*
Depending upon the degree and the type of trust you enact, we further find three things that God will do for the trusting child.
He will:
*1.
**Protect your path*
*2.
**Perfect your path, and*
*3.
**Pilot your path*
Blind Trust:
Blind trust is bordered on ignorance.
We have already submitted that one must trust in something, and that a wise person determines beforehand just what or who will receive that trust.
Blind trust just wonders around aimlessly.
Blind trust says, “Oh, I’ll make it, somehow.”
No, God might help you make it, somehow, but you can do nothing of yourself.
You have no guarantees with blind trust.
Blind trust is self-indulgent, knows it all and can find it all.
Blind trust is a waste of time and energy.
Blind trust does not recognize good; it looks for opportunities both among the household of God and finds comfort in the seat of the scornful.
Blind trust is here today, dressed to kill in black and white, nodding and agreeing; but tomorrow, blind trust will be nodding and agreeing with the most vile sinner at work and plotting mischief against a fellow worker.
That’s blind trust.
*Objective trust*, on the other hand, sets its determination and its focus on an object outside of self.
Objective trust is purposeful and determining.
It ponders choices and makes decisions in a knowledgeable manner.
We can see objective trust in the book of Judges in the person of Deborah.
Deborah was a prophetess to the nation, Israel.
She held court under a palm tree.
Her vision of the world was shaped not by the political situation of her day but by her relationship with God.
She was one who heard God and believed Him.
Deborah, like many who have objective trust, had enough trust in God for herself and others.
Deborah called the General of the Israeli army, Barak, and told him to gather 10,000 men because God was going to give Sisera, the general of the opposing army of Jabin into his hands.
Some have said that Barak was terrified of Sisera.
Maybe this was true for Sisera was surely known for his gallantry in battle and his many chariots.
But whatever the reason, Barak could not afford the same trust that Deborah seemed to have.
He answered that he would go to fight only if Deborah, a woman, would go with him.
Barak needed stroking and encouragement.
They could work together: Barak in the fields and Deborah as his encourager and director.
Because objective trust is so focused it can be generous and offer stroking.
Barak was not a weak man.
But since Deborah represented God, he just wanted God’s continual presence.
Sometimes, ladies you have to practice stroking to get what you want.
I manage mostly men at work.
Once I had a very nice Jewish man on staff.
His work was always so neat, but his production was unacceptable.
I tried talking with him, observing him, threatening him, but nothing worked until I stroked him.
I began by complimenting the neatness of his work, dropping his name at my staff meetings and publicly asking for his input.
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